At present, mirrors are mainly used for inspecting the surroundings of motor vehicles. At the same time, the weather-dependent impairment of a mirror's function, for example, due to condensation or the buildup of ice on the mirror through various systems, bears consideration. In the patent documents DE 19519097 A1 and DE 29504485 U1, rearview mirror systems are proposed that free mirrors from visual impairment due to temperature and weather conditions by means of contact with warm air. For precise, legally-stipulated fields of view, however, in the near future the use of camera monitoring systems and indirect visual systems will be allowed.
Camera systems, such as are also proposed in DE 10329900 A1, for instance, have been installed inside vehicles in order to fulfill various support and surveillance functions. In addition, camera monitoring systems are already found in test vehicles, prototypes, and exhibition vehicles at shows. These vehicles already have camera monitoring systems instead of external mirrors that extend out from the vehicle and have camera arms instead of the external mirrors. It has been shown that in extreme weather conditions the functioning of these camera devices with optics and electronics is not always guaranteed. In particular, the need has been shown for the camera device to be additionally heated at low temperatures in the winter. But malfunctions can also occur during very hot weather in the summer. The use of camera systems that are designed accordingly for large ambient temperature differences have led to substantially higher costs.
It is therefore a task of this invention to disclose an external camera device as well as a vehicle equipped therewith that exhibits increased reliability without such a system being overly expensive.